Muzzleldrs Unusual Marked P1853 Enfield

kearsarge

Private
Joined
Dec 7, 2016
Greetings
I have an original Enfield p53 rifle. It has an unusual marking on the lock; Birmingham small arms trade in a horizontal oval. I have never seen a lock so marked.

Crown at rear of hammer. Typical Birmingham Small Arms Trade marking on the stock. No other maker names except for this: On the right side of the rear sight appears to be T. & E. P.

Also, original ramrod seems to have british markings as well.

Any info?

Thanks
 
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here are some picts. Found another marking on top of barrel near tang.

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I have seen the BSAT in an oval on the lockplate before but it is not as commonly encountered as "Tower" and the date. I always assumed it was a variation by Birmingham Small Arms Trade gunmakers when they were not trying to fob off the piece as having been inspected with gauges at the "Tower" (which mostly did not happen). I do not believe it is associated with any one particular commercial Birmingham gunmaker. The initials on the ladder sight would be the maker of that part.
 
The BSA on the lock plate is not typical as @Craig L Barry stated. Have you removed the barrel and lock-plate as there are barrel marker marks on the bottom of the barrel and stock makers marks in the barrel channel and there will be marking on the inside of the lock-plate.
 
"The Birmingham based gunmaking firm of Tipping & Lawden was trade name partnership between Thomas Tipping Lawden and Caleb Lawden, who established themselves as gun, rifle and pistol makers at 40 Constitution Hill in 1837, expanding to 40 & 41 Constitution Hill in 1852. In 1860, the firm added a London location at 18 Buckingham Street. In addition to the usual production of military pattern muskets and rifles (both for military contracts and commercial sale), the company manufactured sporting arms for the general gun trade both in England and abroad. The firm also established itself as a major manufacturer of handguns in Great Britain by the end of the 1850s."

Craig L Barry and Lanyard Puller are resident experts. Craig advised me of the following in a post I’d submitted on my own import...

Tipping & Lawden was one of the so-called "original four" which were selected by the Ordnance department to provide the first P-53s during the Crimean War, along with Swinburn, Hollis & Sheath and T Turner. They were one of the larger Birmingham gun-makers, actually a multi-generational family outfit like many of them were. There is quite a bit on them in Suppliers to the Confederacy Vol I (p.66-70). Their reputation was that they were among those that "...employ the best hands and turn out the best work."

In a nutshell, founder Thomas Tipping's daughter (Mary Ann) married Caleb Lawden, in 1837 he was made a partner in the firm. Their son, Thomas Tipping-Lawden also went into the family business. So during the Civil War-era, Tipping & Lawden was operating as a father-son venture. There were also retail premises in London.
 
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